The OECD has 30 member
countries, all of which are committed to democratic government
and the market economy. The OECD endeavours to foster good
governance and help policy makers respond to the challenges
of a global economy.
By
issue:
Biotechnology
1. Genetic inventions, IPRs and and
licensing practices
IP
and Innovation
1. IP rights
and the diffusion of knowledge from public to private sectors
2. The OECD Patent Project
New
Publications
Biotechnology
The OECD addresses intellectual property
issues indirectly through its activities in biotechnology
and science and innovation.
1. Genetic
inventions, IPRs and licensing practices
The OECD Science, Technology and Industry
Directorate has been looking at the relationship between Intellectual
Property Rights (IPRs) and biotechnology for over 20 years.
Its project on Genetic
Inventions, IPRs and Licensing Practices was launched
in March 2001. The purpose of the project
is to gather information on the exploitation of patents for
genetic inventions, so as to determine whether the patent
system is adequately meeting the needs of society. Rather
than look at the ethical debate on gene patenting, the project
will focus on the impact of gene patenting on the research
environment, and whether patenting a gene sequence will restrict
the ability of researchers to undertake work in a particular
area. There is currently no quantitative data on whether and
how often conflicts over patented genes arise, and what interested
parties are doing to gain or share access to patented genes.
The OECD hopes that this project will enable governments to
understand how to ensure access to genetic information.
As part of this project the OECD held an
Expert
Workshop on Genetic Inventions, IPRs and Licensing Practices
on 24-25 January 2002. The aims of the workshop
were:
- To describe the costs and benefits
of gene patenting and licensing practices
- To explore how government and the
private sector have responded to those practices
At the end of 2002 the OECD released a report
based on the discussions at the OECD Expert Workshop, incorporating
changes suggested by the Working Party for Biotechnology,
the project Steering Group and outside experts. The report
focuses on the identification of systematic problems encountered
by researchers, firms or clinical users of DNA patents in
their attempts to gain legal access to genetic inventions.
The report also explores solutions that might be considered
remedies to specific access problems.
As a follow-on activity to the project
on Genetic Inventions, IPRS, and Licensing Practices, the
Working Party on Biotechnology mandated the formation of
a steering group to develop Guidelines for Good Licensing
Practices that will facilitate access to, and the diffusion
of, technologies for the public good. The steering group
will bring together representatives from governments, industry
and the research and medical communities. Its first task
was to determine the method by which guidelines could be
developed. This was done at a meeting in May 2003.
At this meeting the Steering Group also decided to hold a
working meeting in November 2003.
Held on 17 November 2003 in
Paris, the meeting involved participants from public sector
research groups and technology transfer offices, health ministries,
clinicians, biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical firms,
and patient advocacy groups. The Secretariat drafted a background
document as a starting point for discussion. It raised cases
to be discussed by participants at the meeting in order to
give a sense of how common certain licensing practices are
and what working solutions are being adopted. The objective
of the meeting was to agree on topics and draft wording for
the Guidelines.
For further information on more recent OECD
activities concerning inventions, IPRs and licensing practices,
please visit the IPRIA International
Developments OECD webpage.
IP and
Innovation
1.
IP rights and the diffusion of knowledge from public to private
sectors
In May 2003 the results of the first international survey on the patenting and licensing activities of public research organisations in OECD countries were published in Turning Science into Business: Patenting and Licensing in Public Research Organisations. The publication includes data on the stock and number of patents and licenses, the amount of licensing revenue, the size and activities of technology transfer offices, the types of licensing agreements, as well as information on government and institutional policies for owning and exploiting intellectual property. In addition, the report includes several case studies on how OECF countries are moving to unlock the social and economic benefits or public research. It can be purchased from the OECD bookshop.
Changes in Intellectual Property Rights
(IPRs), along with developments in industrial innovation
and the economy at large, have altered the relationships
among IPRs, innovation and economic performance. An OECD
study launched in February 2003 will investigate
these changes and provide empirical information to guide
ongoing policy debates about IPR.
The study will review and assess the interrelationships
among IPRs, innovation, the diffusion of science and technology
(S&T), and ultimately, economic performance. The focus
will be mainly on patents, but copyrights and data base protection
will be covered to the extent that they pertain to S&T
matters. It will review the economic and S&T drivers
of recent changes in IPR and gather empirical evidence regarding
the effect on new IPR rules and practices on innovation and
economic performance.
In particular, it will analyse the impact
of those changes on the orientation and funding of business
and government research, on the conditions of access to the
resulting knowledge by third parties, and on the development
and growth of emerging areas of economic activity. It will
address IPR in particular areas where changes have been more
substantial and the public debate is more active, notably,
basic science, software and innovation in services (e.g.
business methods), and biotechnology, with the view of identifying
both specific and common issues. These areas may also illustrate
a broader set of challenges associated with the shift to
the knowledge-based economy. The aim is to provide decision-makers
with a first stage inventory of issues and options: factual
evidence and analysis that shed light on the policy debate,
and sets out implications for the development of IPR regimes
that contribute more efficiently to innovation and economic
performance.
The project will be structured in six,
complementary modules:
- new conditions for knowledge appropriation
and diffusion;
- PROs and basic science;
- biotechnology;
- IPR for software and services;
- the impact of IPR on invention, diffusion
and economic performance (cross-cutting issues);
- policy implications.
In December 2000 the OECD asked its Working
Group on Technology and Innovation Policy (TIP) to investigate
the management of Intellectual Property Rights (IPRs) arising
from public research. A workshop was held to examine how different
OECD countries exploit the IP generated from publicly funded
research and assess the economic impact of these strategies.
Documents from the workshop, including an issues paper, are
accessible here.
The OECD held a Conference on IPR, Innovation
and Economic Performance in Paris from 28-29 August,
2003. It was organised in six thematic sessions:
- Patents and Economic Performance: Establishing
the Links
- Changes in Patent Regimes
- Patents and Entrepreneurship
- Patents and the Diffusion of Technology
- IPR for Software and Services
- Current and Future Police Challenges
Related documents include: Intellectual
Property Rights (IPR), Innovation and Economic Performance and Compendium
of Patent Statistics
Following the WIPO Conference
on the Importance of Statistics on Patenting Trends Analysis
and Projections, a joint WIPO-OECD workshop on
patents statistics was held from 18-19 September
2003 in Geneva. The workshop provided an opportunity
to bring together producers and users of patent statistics.
The objectives of the patent statistics workshop were
to:
- Discuss the state of the art in patent
statistics,
- Discuss and validate the work carried
out by the taskforce,
- Identify demand for patent information
and indicators, and
- Identify important directions
for future work.
Particular attention was to be given
to the various types of patent statistics that are currently
available and to new approaches regarding patent-based
indicators. Emphasis was also to be placed upon methodologies
for the analysis of patent-related information.
A number of presentations undertaken by
the OECD, WIPO, EC, EPO, USPTO and experts from academia
were made at the Workshop organized in five thematic sessions:
For information on more recent OECD activities
concerning IPRs and the diffusion of knowledge from public
to private sectors, please visit the IPRIA
International Developments OECD webpage.
2. The OECD Patent Project
Intellectual property as an economic asset: key issues in exploitation and valuation
The European Patent Office, OECD and the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Labour will be holding this conference in Berlin on 30 June and 1 July, 2005. The conference aims to advance business practice and policy making, regarding the valuation and exploitation of patents. It offers a platform to exchange knowledge and experience among business, governmental and academia experts concerning the state of the art and future developments in many countries.
For more information, click here.
New Publications
Biotechnology Statistics in OECD Member Countries: An Inventory - 2004
This document reflects recent efforts made by the OECD to obtain an accurate assessment of the current state of biotechnology statistics in OECD member and observer countries. It is an update of the original document, which was released in 2000.
To read this document in full, click here.
Compendium of Patent Statistics - 2004
This document presents various patent indicators to reflect recent trends in innovative activity across a wide range of OECD member and non-member countries.
The 2004 Compendium of Patent Statistics updates and refines a similar compendium prepared by the OECD in 2003. It mainly draws on the OECD patent database and methodological work conducted within the framework of the OECD Patent Project. It presents various patent indicators to reflect recent trends in innovative activity across a wide range of OECD member and non-member countries.
To access this document, click here.
Patents and Innovation: Trends and Policy Challenges - 2004
Patent regimes play an increasingly complex role in encouraging innovation, diffusing scientific and technical knowledge, and enhancing market entry and firm creation. Between 1992 and 2002, the number of patent applications filed in Europe, Japan and the United States increased by more than 40%. The increasing use of patents to protect inventions by businesses and public research organisations is closely connected to recent evolutions in innovation processes, the economy and patent regimes. Well-informed and more global policies will be needed to prepare the patent system to meet these new challenges, so that it can continue to fulfil its role of encouraging innovation and technology diffusion.
This report presents the first results of ongoing OECD activity on patents, innovation and economic performance and highlights policy issues in the following areas:
To see full report, click here.
Creativity, Innovation and Economic Growth in the 21st Century: An Affirmative Case for Intellectual Property Rights - January 2004
Intellectual property protection is one of the central public policy pillars on which the knowledge-based industries and global markets of the 21st Century rest. Nonetheless, certain policymakers, non-governmental organizations, academics and others have questioned the role of IPRs in the emerging 21st Century economy. In this discussion paper, BIAC summarizes an affirmative case for why a well-developed, carefully balanced system of intellectual property rights provides a fundamental foundation for promoting and achieving sustained creativity, innovation and economic performance in the 21st Century.
The first section highlights the importance of IPRs in meeting today’s and tomorrow’s key economic and technological challenges. It identifies some of the driving forces and challenges that demonstrate the importance of intellectual property rights and the need to get the legal and policy framework for IPRs “right”. The second section draws upon this forward-looking, affirmative case for IPRs to suggest the pivotal role that the OECD should play and to recommend a proactive, multi-point OECD work program related to intellectual property rights over the next few years.
This paper has been prepared for the Ministerial meeting of the OECD’s Committee for Scientific and Technological Policy (CSTP) in January 2004. It also, however, should be of equal interest to policymakers in national governments, other OECD Committees and the wider business community.
For a full copy of this paper, click here.
Intellectual Property Rights in the
New Economy: Technological changes and the Protection of Intellectual
Property Rights - April 2003
The adaptation of intellectual property
regimes to the new economy is needed not only to reinforce
incentives to innovated, but also to adequately protect rights
embedded in new technologies. New technologies may also contribute
to facilitating the provision of intellectual property services.
As an illustration of these developments this study presents
works at the interface of intellectual property and the new
economy undertaken within WTO and WIPO. It also notes that
developments occurring in other organisations may have an
impact on intellectual property regimes, and presents initiatives
underway in the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), World
Health Organisation (WHO), United Nations Environment Program
(UNEP), Hague Conference on Private International Law, and
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).
To access a copy of the report, click here.
The Impact of Trade-Related Intellectual
Property Rights on Trade and Foreign Direct Investment in
Developing Countries – June 2003.
This paper examines the relationship of
certain types of intellectual property rights (IPRs) to foreign
direct investment (FDI) and trade flows with respect to developing
countries. The first sections of the paper provide and introduction
and stocktaking that includes: 1) a brief review of the context,
including references to the key treaties administered by WIPO
and TRIPS; 2) a summary of evidence from existing literature
on the nature of the relationship between IPRs, FDI and trade;
and 3) an overview of trends in FDI and trade. There follows
an analysis focussed on the association of the strength of
patent rights with trade and FDI flows controlling for other
factors.
To access a copy of the report, click here.
OECD Science,
Technology and Industry – 2003 Scoreboard –
October 2003.
The OECD Scoreboard reviews overall
trends in science, technology and industry and identifies
significant changes in policies in OECD countries. It does
so through over 200 indicators covering four different areas:
the creation and diffusion of knowledge (which includes patent
statistics); the information economy; the global integration
of economic activities; and productivity and economic structure.
An electronic version will be available complete with a data
appendix and links to underlying databases. The electronic
version gives users “clickable” access to data
used in charts and figures (see www.oecd.org/sti/scoreboard).
For summaries of more recent OECD publications,
please visit the IPRIA International
Developments OECD webpage.
Biological Resource Centres: Underpinning
the Future of Life Sciences and Biotechnology
There is now little doubt that the breakthroughs
in biotechnology,
genomics and genetics will affect our societies and many aspects of our life
as
profoundly as information technologies have already done. However, there is
still only scanty awareness that biotechnology will lead to many changes in
government policy, public information, law, education and the scientific and
technological infrastructure.
This report is the result of two years
of work by a Task Force on Biological
Resource Centres. While at the outset, opinions of representatives of different
countries and disciplines varied widely, they ultimately converged on all
substantive issues.
See see the full report, click here.
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